The art-fair-whose-name-nobody-can-remember (a.k.a. “the Barker Hangar fair”; a.k.a. Art Los Angeles Contemporary) is going on this weekend! If you missed the opening, with its lung-searing recreation of a 1968 Judy Chicago dry ice environment, there’s still plenty to see. It’s a manageable fair, size-wise, and for the most part very good. An informal survey of dealers as of Friday afternoon found optimism and some strong sales. The fair is heavy on contemporary LA galleries, which makes it handy for visitors to the city. Here are some highlights:

Ambach & Rice (a gallery that moved last year from Seattle to Los Angeles), featured collages by British artist Abigail Reynolds. Reynolds takes two found images from the same location and splices them together, often resulting in charming or ironic contrasts, and a bulging, sculptural surface.

More cut paper, at Angles — photographs of nighttime cityscapes by Soo Kim, with the text of lighted signs excised (apologies for the glare):

Honor Fraser‘s booth featured a solo installation by Alexandra Grant, who sent up overly-analyzed, let’s-bring-the-conversation-back-to-me culture with a large wall of ink drawings and a free standing monument to the self.

By far the most elegant booth in the fair belonged to David Kordansky Gallery, which featured works by Anthony Pearson. This small bronze piece is atypical; most of the pieces in the booth are pedestal sculptures with framed photographs, like this.

Finally, another wonderful non-LA gallery discovery was Elastic, from Malmö, Sweden. Their booth was dedicated to quirky, mostly non-2D works by its stable of Swedish artists (look for them also to participate in the Armory Show’s Nordic focus this March).